Luke Rockhold is headed to Jerusalem, Israel to take on BJJ star Craig Jones in a September clash.
Luke Rockhold is continuing his exodus from mixed martial arts with a special BJJ cage match against Craig Jones in Israel this fall.
That’s according to Craig Jones, who announced the fight through his Instagram earlier today.
“Never in the history of combat sports have 2 dime pieces of this caliber locked horns,” Jones wrote. “I’ve often been told I need Jesus in my life, what an opportunity to hit Jerusalem in search of him.”
The Brazilian jiu jitsu bout will take place inside a cage at Israel Fight Night 1 in September. Jones is one of the biggest names in BJJ competition, while Luke Rockhold is a former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight champion.
Rockhold asked for his release from the UFC following a tough loss to Paulo Costa last summer. Since then his only contest has been a bare knuckle boxing fight against Mike Perry that saw him get his teeth smashed in, literally.
Now Rockhold will head back to the gentle art, an area he’s competed regularly in over the years. Most recently he took on Jones’ teammate Nick Rodriguez at Polaris 12 in 2019. Luke would lose that one via decision.
It’s all part of Rockhold’s plan to walk the earth and compete in as many various martial arts as he can. In addition to BJJ competitions, he’s recently said he might try Karate Combat.
“I can fight wherever I want and whatever appeals to me the most is where I’m gonna go,” he said. “The opponent, the stage, the situation, and of course, the payday. But this (Karate Combat) is looking good.”
While free agency is looking a little rough in the win-loss column for UFC fighters, at least they’re getting paid. We’re sure the purse is sweet for Rockhold to take a vacation in Israel and take on a beast like Craig Jones.